The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and a program, and specifically relates to such an information processing apparatus that is capable of communicating with a client terminal device and other information processing apparatuses through a network, an information processing method that employs the information processing apparatus concerned, and a program for controlling the information processing apparatus concerned.
When a pull printing operation is implemented in the system in which a printer sever and a plurality of printers are coupled to each other through the network, for instance, print data created by the client terminal device is transmitted to the printer sever, so that a predetermined printer acquires the print data from the printer sever to implement the printing operation.
In such the network printing system, according as the scale of the system is expanding due to the increase of a number of the printers and the client terminal devices included in the system, burdens for processing data are concentrated onto the printer sever, resulting in an inability of efficient use of the processing capability possessed by the whole system. Further, even if the number of printer severs were increased so as to disperse the burdens within the system, the operating efficiency of the system operation would be getting worse, due to the complexity of the system administrating aspects.
On the other hand, as oppose to the abovementioned the technology, for instance, Tokkai 2004-334287 Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication) sets forth such a system that has no printer sever, but is configured by coupling a plurality of printers to each other through the network. Further, in the above system, printers located adjacent to each other are grouped and recorded, so that an adjacent printer can be selected by selecting a printer belonging to the same group, when conducting a dispersion printing operation, so as to make an operation for gleaning output results easy.
Even in such the system that has no printer sever as mentioned in the above, there has existed a group leader, serving as a main printer in the system, and this group leader controls other printers coupled to the system concerned. Accordingly, the processing loads have been liable to concentrate onto the group leader, resulting in such a state that the performance of the whole system (printer group) has deteriorated.